David

Those of you who read this section will know that I have been thinking about selling my 12 year old UK car which is registered in France.  Something has been stopping me from going ahead as I really wanted to give it to my daughter in the UK, but she did not want it. As women do, she has now changed her mind, and would like it.  However, she says that under new UK rules it is not possible to import a car older than 10 years into the UK, and she sites the UK government web site. I have researched the web site and can find nothing to say that I cannot import a 12 year old ex UK car back into the UK. I would be grateful for your advices as to whether my daughter or I am correct. Many thanks, David

Thank you everybody for all your very helpful replies.  In particular thanks to all those who kindly provided links to the relevant sections. Mike - did you have to send the forms to the UK for countersignature?  Could you not have got your local Maire to countersign them? I now have to decide whether to go back to the UK or not.  Unfortunately we have just returned from the UK, which is when we discovered that our passports were nearing the end of their life, and we have no plans for any immediate return.  Thus we will probably renew through Paris. Again many thanks to all. David

I understand that requirements for renewing UK passports have recently changed, for example the Bordeaux office will not now accept passport renewals.  I have done a search but I cannot find any recent posts on this matter. Both my wife's and my passport expire this summer and we have to renew them. We are resident in France and would be grateful for updates of what needs to be done for the renewal process.  If necessary we could return to the UK, as cost is a significant matter. Many thanks in anticipation, David

Benjamin, Thanks to the very kind and helpful people on this thread, now that I have learnt much more about financial planning for retirement, I have the same thoughts as you. Even in a UK context only, as he is a UK advisor, I wonder why he has not considered drawdown, sipps, etc. and simply recommended annuities. To give him the benefit of the doubt, when we discussed this last year with him we knew nothing about retirement planning and told him that we wanted to be ultra safe in our investments, and that we needed an income from the date of my 65th birthday. I am now going to seek the assistance of an expert company such as Siddalls, and thanks to this thread I have some knowledge, questions and ideas to enable me to discuss matters with them.  I just wonder how expensive they are, and whether they are worth their fees and commissions. As you so perceptively say, I do think that some form of drawdown system would be best for me.  I just have to establish the system and method with regard to UK and French tax regimes. Many thanks, David

Mikep, Many thanks for your very helpful post, and thank you indeed for taking the trouble to explain your system. I have been on a steep learning curve about SIPPS, drawdown, wrappers, QROPS etc., and until AnOther came up with QNUPS, I thought I was doing well!  Even so I had not come across Alliance Trust. I have come to think that a system on virtually the same lines as your system with Alliance Trust would be good for me, but with using a management firm to select and manage the investments as I would not feel confident in doing this myself.  I have had a quick look at the Alliance Trust web site, and it seems to be very much a hands on approach by the investor.  Great for a financially knowledgeable person, but rather daunting for those less financially able. You also raise French Taxe d'Habitation issues, and UK inheritance issues, both very important.  I must say that the QNUPS site raised inheritance questions that I was not aware of. I am now trying to digest all the extremely useful info that you and AnOther have given me, and then I think I will have to seek expert advice.  At least I have quite a few questions and suggestions now, and some understanding of what was a closed book to me. I see that this thread now has 340 views, so I think that you have both been helping quite a few other people as well! Thank you again, David  

AnOther, Thanks for the clarification about the 5 year limit for QROPS.  I confess that I had misunderstood it to mean that the person had been out of the UK for 5 years, and that the QROPS became immediately flexible.  The fact that the QROPS must be 5 years old before leaving UK regulation seems to detract somewhat from the usefulness of QROPS to me. Thank you also - I think - for bringing up QNUPS!  As you say, I thought I was getting a handle on QROPS, SIPPS and drawdown, and now I see how much more I do not know. It just brings home the need for expert advice.  Perhaps Siddalls? Many thanks, David

Mikep, Thank you also for your excellent post.  Please also accept the congratulatory remarks I made in my reply to AnOther. I think that I must consider the QROPS matter in a bit of a rush, as I am 65 in July, and at that time my UK financial advisor tells me that I must decide whether to take an annuity, which he recommends, or not in order to provide income to sustain us.  As I understand it once I take an annuity I am stuck with it.  I also qualify for QROPS as I have now been tax resident in France for seven years.  I also have to consider leaving my wife in the best position possible if I pop my clogs before her, as is most probable - I am not in great health. I must also consider the French tax implications you raise, and we also have a vague thought of returning to UK in the future to be closer to our grandchildren. With the thought that my children might be subject to heavy UK tax if they inherit my pension funds, bad as that is, would it not be better than inheriting nothing with the annuity system?  I have thought about leaving the money to charity, but I have already left significant money to UK Merchant Navy charities who now seem to have very little to spend the money on with the demise of the UK fleet. That being said, with the current financial problems and excessive tax regimes in both countries, we are now thinking of assuming that we have another ten years to enjoy ourselves and thus blow the lot, then go back to UK and live off benefits, a system which the UK government seem to prefer.  Just joking - I think. Time to cogitate and digest methinks.  And I thought retiring would be easy! Thanks again, David  

AnOther, Firstly apologies for the delay in replying but we were busy yesterday. I must thank you for a wonderful reply, which must have taken ages.  This to me represents all that is best in this forum where people spend lots of their time, and go out of their way to assist total strangers.  Thank yuo very much indeed for your very informative post.  I am sure that other readers of this forum will benefit from your knowledge as well as me. I must now cogitate and digest, and try to understand all that you have said.  In my own case I have already decided not to take any lump sums.  I am now trying to understand the difference between draw down, annuities, and QROPS, but from your post QROPS seem less attractive.  I will also have to find out what the GAD rate is. I am also researching French tax and my wife has found the newspaper article to which you refer, but which I have yet to read. I also take your point about UK advisors who are not familiar with French tax laws. I have decided not to proceed with the Spanish people based really on a gut feeling after a one hour long sales telephone call from them despite my specific request for no phone calls and everything to be in writing. Thank you again for your excellent post, David

Mikep, Thanks for your helpful post. As we are retiring, I doubt that we will last another 25 to 30 years, but point taken.  Management fees are very much uppermost in our minds as we were rather badly burnt during the UK bank mis-selling of pensions scandal.  Being self employed, we trusted the bank who had the honour of holding our overdrafts, and felt bound to them.  They took us out of sound pension schemes and put us into poor schemes with excessive management fees and commissions to the bank.  We then had to approach a financial advisor to try to salvage what could be saved.  Eventually the bank did compensate us, but we feel that it was a pittance compared to what we lost. I am rather financially illiterate, and thus am trying to find an honest financial advisor for QROPS, if such a being exists! We were told that after 5 years as an expat, the QROPS are considered by UK tax to be honestly due to expats, and thus it is possible to return to UK without penalty.  The key is that the QROPS holder must have clearly been tax registered outside the UK for at least 5 continuous UK tax years before returning to the UK.  I presume this is to stop retirees going to france for a few months or a year, taking out a QROPS, and then returning to UK. Many thanks for your kind post, David

Frexpt, Thank you for your response.  Both you and AnOther very sensibly caution me about the advisors advertising in the Telegraph, and I have taken your advice to heart. I have checked your link, but I could find no advisors specialising in QROPS. I have been in touch with Abbey Financial Solutions, who were the Telegraph advertisers, and who strongly recommend me to convert to QROPS.  I must admit their arguments were persuasive, but they said they needed a letter of authority to approach my pension fund holders before they could act further.  Being naturally suspicious I have not yet provided this. I have googled them and I cannot find whether they themselves are subject to financial regulation, although they are based in Spain.  They are, however, associated with a company in Cyprus who have been in trouble with the Cyprus authorities for selling products they were not licenced to sell, and who were subject to a Panorama investigation last year for excessive fees.  Thus, thanks to your warnings I am reluctant to proceed with Abbey.  I must emphasise that I have found nothing detrimental to Abbey themselves on the internet, only glowing endorsements. I now have to find a QROPS provider who I am happy with. Thanks for your help, David

AnOther, Thank you for your reply.  Yes, I do mean the removal of the requirement to buy an annuity, but I also refer to the recent European sexual equality in insurance which will mean a reduction in pension annuities for men, and to the French taxing of pension lump sums.  All of which seem to favour looking seriously at QROPS. We then have to consider the French tax implications of both annuities and QROPS.  I am not sure what effect the removal of the requirement to buy an annuity would have on us, I must ask my UK pension advisor why he is only recommending annuities to us.  Unfortunately he does not act in the QROPS field, being UK only. I note the £150k investment level for QROPS, but we would be a little above that.  We have paid into pension schemes all our life in the expectation of a reasonable pension.  However, after the Gordon Brown pension theft, the lack of any change by the present government, the generally poorly performing pension market, and the low levels of annuities, we started looking at QROPS.  One of the major considerations is that the fund can be left to our children, rather than being lost as an annuity would be when we die. We would keep the QROPS in sterling for the moment, and use a management company to advise us. We are still very confused, and have made no decisions, but thank you for your kind help.  Any further suggestions or advice would be very welcome. David

I have made a search on QROPS on this site, but all postings seem to have been outdated by recent government changes. We are shortly reaching retirement age, and are considering taking QROPS, rather than a UK annuity. We have been in touch with financial advisors who advertise in the internet Daily Telegraph and who recommend QROPS, but we wonder if there are any disadvantages for French tax residents taking QROPS with UK private pensions? In general we do not really understand QROPS, or the disadvantages, so we would welcome any comments, or examples of practical experience. Many thanks, David

An arithmetic calculation?  Why the xxx did the program ask for this? Was it trying to access your machine for spying, or other, purposes?  For example make a note of your number keystrokes for when you make financial transactions? I would have immediately deleted the program, but then I do not understand these computers etc, and treat everything as if it is trying to diddle me. Am baffled. [8-)] David  

Thanks for trying.  That manual really is quite horrendous for translating.  I had tried to extract text for translating but without success. Now that you have tried I do not feel such an idiot. Still trying to recover brownie points! [+o(] Thanks again for all your efforts. David

P - sorry for the delay in replying, but I have been busy. In the meantime my wife has treated me as one of those useless males and quietly got on with it herself. While I was fiddling with the computer and assuring her that a full translation was forthcoming, she typed up all the relevant sections and translated them, so my efforts are now redundant.  Thus I will give up my computer efforts, and find something useful (in her eyes) to do in order to earn some brownie points to make up.  [+o(] Such is the life of a retired male provider/hunter! Thanks for all your help though. David

Claire, I tried your tip of right clicking on the manual link, but no joy.  The right click over the link gave the same results as right clicking on any part of the rest of the page - the right click did not seem to recognise the manual link.  Perhaps because it shows as a zip compressed folder when downloading?  None of the options were as you described. P - I will try downloading that program tomorrow. I thought that converting pdf files to word, and then translating them, would be easy but it seems not. Thanks all. David

Sorry P, must be doing something wrong, but cannot get anything. Cannot find URL of manual, I go to the Brandt web site, go to the DFH 1031 section, and open the manual but it immediately downloads - no url shown. I have saved the pdf file to a memory stick, and put the memory stick address into the google translate window.  The translator seems to try to do something, but ends up with mostly blank pages with occasional gibberish. Have tried copying sections of text from the pdf file and pasting them into google translate, but only get gibberish. I am using IE8, I go the to google search page, and then enter the text into the box on the left.  The gibberish comes out on the right hand side, but it is not enclosed in a box. Any ideas of what I am doing wrong? Many thanks, David  

Thanks for that Russethouse, I followed your link and understand what to try.  I now just have to find the original installation disc.  I'll look for it tomorrow. Pachapapa, I have downloaded the manual in pdf format, and have even saved it to a memory stick to make it easy to find.  However, I could not find any way to translate it with google.  I also tried copying sections and pasting them into google, but they just showed up as gibberish. Thanks for the help. David

Thanks everybody for all your kind thoughts.  I have tried pdftoword.com, but that said there was a technical difficulty and that a conversion could not be made. Also I cannot find Microsoft document imaging on my machine.  Perhaps because I have Microsoft Office 2007, but I am running Windows 7.  I have tried to find a download, but it only seems to be available for Windows XP, and not Windows 7. I am not sure what OCR software is, but I have a cannon scanner. As there are only shortish sections that we cannot understand, perhaps it would be easier to type out the relevant sections, and translate those. Many thanks, David

What is this 10% abattement?  I do not think we get this. David

Many thanks parsnips for your very helpful reply, and sorry for my delayed response but I preferred to give you the full story. We had some friends visiting who were very keen to come to France.  After some discussions it became apparent that they had not considered fully the financial implications. They did not believe me that the French tax authorities could be so unreasonable, so I wrote the post to which you replied.  Thanks to your post they will now delay any move to France until their assurances mature.  Thus France will lose our friends other tax revenues until they decide to come over, if they in fact do so now. What a shame that assurances which have taken more than 40 years of payments and maturity in UK, and which comply fully with UK tax law so that they mature without UK tax liability, then become liable to French CSG, and that the French demand the CSG on the full amount rather than just the gains made while being a French resident. Many thanks again, David

We have just bought a Brandt DFH 1031 dishwasher, and have a paper user manual in French.  I have looked on line but can only find a PDF manual in French. I wonder if anybody can direct me to a manual for this machine in English? For setting up the salt, hard water and rinse aid we would like to have a manual in English, and I wonder if it is possible to convert the French pdf manual to English, or if it is possible to scan the French paper manual and convert the scanned document to English? Many thanks in advance. David

[quote user="LesLauriers"]Parsnips The 1999 Finance Law requires all French residents to declare any investment into or withdrawal from a foreign life assurance contract. Only contracts entered into before 1st Jan 1983 are excempt from income tax and social charges. Withholding tax and abatements only apply to French contracts or foeign insurance companies with permanent establishments in France (French life assurance contracts). The EU were unhappy about this and tried to change things around 2001/2 to no avail.  If you are aware of an update to this situation could you please point us in the direction of the information. Many thanks. Ron I have to agree the man in the connection is not to be trusted on this one!!   Surprise surprise ! [/quote]   Sorry to ressurect such an old post, but I cannot find anything more recent. Do I understand correctly that UK endowment assurance policies with profits entered into before 1st January 1983, and which are "Qualifying" life assurance policies according to UK Tax, in that is there is no UK income tax liability, are also exempt from all French taxes? Many thanks, David

Agreed, very early, but they are definitely Hoopoes.

This morning we saw a pair of hoopoes in our garden for the first time this year. We normally have a pair over the summer, but this does seem very early for them to arrive. A warm spring/summer coming? David